Conversation Class
Lesson Summary
Language and Section: German Advanced Conversation
Date: 11-08-2012
Class theme/topics discussed:
– Elections in America and in Germany
Goal of the class:
– Discussion of the results of the recent presidential elections
– Understanding of the working of German democracy
– Familiarization with difficult vocabulary in politics
– Comparison of two systems of electing a parliament
Structure of the class:
– students talked casually about the outcome of the elections
– we reviewed the system of American presidential elections
– we watched a video on a German news channel and evaluated if the explanation was good and could be followed
– I distributed a list of words concerning politics, parliamentary business, etc.
– We went through all the vocabulary
– We watched a video which explains the system of German federal elections
– We watched another easier video provided by the German Federal Agency for Civic Education, explaining the same thing again
– We discussed the system: is it complicated, is it easy, is it just?
– What are the advantages, what’s a possible disadvantage?
– Students asked for more explanation
– We talked about earlier outcomes of German elections
– How is the chancellor elected?
– I explained the existing parties to students
What technology, media or props did you use?
TV screen, laptop, German public TV media offer, video, white board
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
Students were VERY interested, asked LOTS of questions, told me to actually keep on doing such topics. I feared it would be too much centered on me but it was a successful conversation class.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
Very time-consuming, in “weaker” classes there might not be as much talk. Risky but interesting.